Roger Federer shares when he was first told he was really good at tennis

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Roger Federer revealed tennis coaches "pretty quickly" made him aware that he was a very talented individual. At the age of 8, Federer started playing tennis. It didn't take long before tennis coaches realized Federer had a great talent for tennis. However, Federer didn't instantly believe it as he needed some time to start to convince himself that he was really good at tennis. Also, Federer didn't want to get carried away by the major praise he received from his coaches. "That's a good question. At the beginning of my career I received feedback pretty quickly that I was actually quite good at what I was doing. At the beginning it is of course difficult to assess this and you hardly dare to really believe it. And as soon as you slowly become a little more self-confident and think, hmm, maybe I'm really good, you'll get punched in the nose, you can be sure of that (laughs). As a teenager, you already go through a rollercoaster of emotions and when you add a career in competitive sports to the mix, you really have to take care of yourself," Federer told GQ-magazin.de.

Roger Federer© Getty Images Sport - Shaun Botterill   Federer became a pro and the rest is tennis history

In his teenage years, Federer realized it was decision-time for him about what he wanted in life. At the age of 16, Federer stopped attending regular school and classes so he could focus on tennis. The rest is history as Federer became a tennis pro and went on to become one of the greatest and most iconic tennis players ever. But if Federer didn't become a pro, he would have returned to school. "When I was 14, I left home and attended a performance center. Those were probably the two most important years of my life. I learned so much about life. At the age of 16 I decided to stop school. I tried online classes for a few months, but then realized pretty quickly that both weren't possible and that I had to put everything on one card. I had a deal with my parents to give tennis a realistic chance and if it didn't work out, to go back to school straight away and without complaining. What can I say, something has happened (laughs)," Federer said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/lhFvjEd

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